Jeremy Schiffres is reporting in the Daily Freeman Ulster County Executive Michael Hein will propose the minimum age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products in the county be raised from 18 to 21. He will outline the proposal in his 2017 State of the County address, Thu., Feb. 2. Hein said the details of the rule still have to be worked out. Orange County recently enacted the same change. The law takes effect June 1, and retailers who violate it could be fined up to $1,500. If Hein's proposal is approved, Ulster would be the eighth county in the state outside of New York City to raise the minimum purchase age from 18 to 21. Hein, a Democrat, said the measure has bipartisan support in the county Legislature. Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk, a Republican, said the law must be “crafted in a way to protect the small businesses of Ulster County,” perhaps by having a phase-in period during which fines would be waived. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.